#THE INDIAN NAVAL ARMAMENT ACT, 1923 
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##ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS 
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###SECTIONS 

1. Short title, extent and commencement.  

2. Definitions.  

3. Restriction on building or equipping vessels of war.  

4. Licences.  

5. Offences.  

6. Liability.  

7. Seizure, detention and search of ships.  

8. Procedure in forfeiture of ships. 

9. Disposal of forfeit. 

10. Special proof of relevant facts.  

11. Penalties for proceeding to sea after seizure.  

12. Power to enter dock-yards, etc.  

13. Courts by which and conditions subject to which offences may be tried. 

14. Indemnity.  

THE SCHEDULE.—[Repealed.]. 
 
 
 
#THE INDIAN NAVAL ARMAMENT ACT, 1923

##ACT NO. 7 OF 1923 

[5th March 1923.] 

AN ACT to give effect to the Treaty for the Limitation of Naval Armament.

WHEREAS it is expedient to give effect to the Treaty for the Limitation of Naval Armament 
and for the Exchange of Information concerning Naval Construction signed in London on behalf of 
His Majesty on the twenty-fifth day of March, 1936; It is hereby enacted as follows:-

1. **Short title, extent and commencement.**— (1)  This Act may be called the Indian Naval 
Armament Act, 1923. 

(2)  It  extends  to  the  whole  of  India  except the  territories  which,  immediately  before  the  1st 
November, 1956, were comprised in Part B States.

(3) It shall come into force on such date[^5] as the Central Government may, by notification in the 
Official Gazette appoint.

2. **Definitions.**— In this Act unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,— 

(a)  “competent  Court”  means  the  High  Court  or  such  other  Court  having  unlimited  original 
civil jurisdiction as the Central Government may declare to be a competent Court for the purposes 
of this Act; 

(b) “ship” means any boat, vessel, battery or craft, whether wholly or partly constructed, which 
is intended to float or is capable of floating, on water, and includes all equipment belonging to any 
ship; 

(bb) “States” denotes all the territories to which this Act extends; and 

(c)  “the  Treaty”  means  the  Treaty  for  the  Limitation  of  Naval  Armament  and  for  the 
Exchange  of  Information  concerning  Naval  Construction  signed  in  London  on  behalf  of  His 
Majesty on the twenty-fifth day of March, 1936.

3. **Restriction on building or equipping vessels of war.**— No person shall, except under and in 
accordance with the conditions of a licence granted under this Act,— 

(a) build any vessel of war, or alter, arm or equip any ship so as to adapt her for use as a vessel 
of war; or 

(b) despatch or deliver, or allow to be despatched or delivered, from any place in the States any 
ship which has been, either wholly or partly, built, altered, armed or equipped as a vessel of war in 
any part of His Majesty’s Dominions or of India otherwise than under and in accordance with 
any law for the time being in force in that part.
 
4. **Licences.**— (1) A licence under this Act for any of the purposes specified in section 3 may be 
granted  by  the Central Government, and  shall  not  be  refused  unless  it  appears  to  the  1[Central 
Government]  that  such  refusal  is  necessary  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  observance  of  the                   
obligations  imposed  by  the  Treaty;  and,  where  a  licence  is  granted  subject  to  conditions,  the 
conditions    shall  be  such  only  as  the Central Government may  think  necessary  for  the  purpose 
aforesaid.

(2) An application for a licence under this section shall be in such form and shall be accompanied 
by  such  designs  and  particulars  as  the Central Government may,  by  general  or  special  order, 
require.

(3) Any person who, in pursuance of a licence granted  under  sub-section  (1)  before  the 
commencement  of  the  Indian  Naval  Armament  (Amendment)  Act,  1937  (2  of  1937),  is  engaged  in 
building any vessel of war or in altering, arming or equipping any ship so as to adapt her for use as a 
vessel  of  war,  or  is  about  to  despatch  or  deliver,  or  allow  to  be  despatched  or  delivered,  from  any 
place within the States any ship which has been so built, altered, armed or equipped, either entirely or 
partly  within  the  States,  shall,  upon  written  demand,  furnish  to  the Central  Government such 
designs and particulars as may be required by the Central Government for the purpose of securing 
the observance of the obligations imposed by the Treaty.

5. **Offences against the Act.**— (1) If any person contravenes any of the provisions of section 3 
or fails to comply with the provisions of sub-section (3) of section 4; he shall be punishable with 
imprisonment  for  a  term  which  may  extend  to  two  years,  or  with  fine  which  may  extend  to  one 
thousand rupees, or with both.

(2) Where an offence punishable under sub-section (1) has been committed by a 
company  or  corporation,  every  director  and  manager  of  such  company  or  corporation  shall  be 
punishable  thereunder  unless  he  proves  that  the  act  constituting  the  offence  took  place  without  his 
knowledge and consent.

(3)  Nothing  contained  in  section  517  or  section  518  or  section  520  of  the  Code  of  Criminal 
Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898), shall be deemed to authorise the destruction or confiscation under the 
order of any criminal court of any ship which is liable to forfeiture under this Act or of any part of 
such ship.

6. **Liability  of  ships  to  forfeiture.**—  Any  ship  which  has  been,  either  wholly  or  partly,  built,                
altered, armed or equipped as a vessel of war in the States in contravention of section 3, or in any 
part of His Majesty’s Dominions or of India in contravention of any like provision of law in force 
in that part, shall, if found in the States, be liable to forfeiture under this Act.

7. **Seizure, detention and search of ships.**—(1) Where a ship is liable to forfeiture under this 
Act,—  

(a) any Presidency Magistrate or Magistrate of the first class, or 

 	(a) any commissioned officer on full pay in the Armed Forces of the Union, or 

	(b) any officer of customs or police officer not below such rank as may be designated in this 
behalf by the Central Government, 

may seize such ship and detain it, and, if the ship is found at sea within the territorial waters of the 
States, may bring it to any convenient port in the States. 

(2) Any officer taking any action under sub-section (1) shall forthwith report the same through his 
official superiors to the Central Government.

(3) The Central Government shall, within thirty days of the seizure, either cause the ship to be 
released  or  make  or  cause  to  be  made,  in  the  manner  hereinafter  provided,  an  application  for  the 
forfeiture  thereof,  and  may  make  such  orders  for  the  temporary  disposal  of  the  ship  as  it  thinks 
suitable. 

8. **Procedure in forfeiture of ships.**— (1) An application for the forfeiture of a ship under this Act 
may be made by, or under authority from, the Central Government to any competent Court within 
the local limits of whose jurisdiction the ship is for the time being.

(2) On receipt of any such application, the Court shall cause notice thereof and of the date fixed for 
the hearing of the application to be served upon all persons appearing to it to have an interest in the 
ship, and may give such directions for the temporary disposal of the ship as it thinks fit. 

(3) For the purpose of disposing of an application under this section, the Court shall have the same 
powers and follow, as nearly as may be, the same procedure as it respectively has and follows for the 
purpose of the trial of suits under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), and any order made 
by the Court under this section shall be deemed to be a decree, and the provisions of the said Code in 
regard to the execution of decrees shall, as far as they are applicable, apply accordingly. 

(4) Where the Court is satisfied that the ship is liable to forfeiture under this Act, it shall pass an 
order forfeiting the ship to Government: 

Provided  that,  where  any  person  having  an  interest  in  the  ship  proves  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
Court  that  he  has  not  abetted,  or  connived  at,  or  by  his  negligence  facilitated,  in  any  way,  a 
contravention of section 3 in respect of the ship, and such ship has not been built as a vessel of war, it 
may pass such other order as it thinks fit in respect of the ship or, if it be sold, of the sale proceeds 
thereof: 

Provided  further  that  in  no  case  shall  any  ship  which  has  been  altered,  armed  or  equipped  as  a 
vessel of war be released until it has been restored, to the satisfaction of the Central Government, to 
such condition as not to render it liable to forfeiture under this Act.

(5) The Central Government or any person aggrieved by any order of a Court, other than a High 
Court, under this section may, within three months of the date of such order, appeal to the High Court.

9. **Disposal of forfeit.**— Where a ship has been forfeited to Government under section 8, it may be 
disposed of in such manner as the Central Government directs: 

Provided that, where the ship is sold under this section, due regard shall be had to the obligations 
imposed by the Treaty.

10. **Special proof of relevant facts.**—  If,  in  any  trial,  appeal  or  other  proceeding  under  the 
foregoing provisions of this Act, any question arises as to whether a ship is a vessel of war or whether 
any  alteration,  arming  or  equipping  of  a  ship  is  such  as  to  adapt  it  for  use  as  a  vessel  of  war,  the 
question shall be referred to and determined by the Central Government, whose decision shall be final 
and shall not be questioned in any court.

11. **Penalties for proceeding to sea after seizure.**— (1) Where a ship which has been seized or 
detained under section 7 or section 8 and has not been released by competent authority under this Act 
proceeds  to  sea,  the  master  of  the  ship  shall  be  punishable  with  fine  which  may  extend  to  one 
thousand  rupees,  and  the  owner  and  any  person  who  sends  the  ship  to  sea  shall  be  likewise  so 
punishable unless such owner or person proves that the offence was committed without his knowledge 
and consent. 

(2) Where any ship so proceeding to sea takes to sea, when on board thereof in the execution of his 
duty,  any  officer  empowered  by  this  Act  to  seize  and  detain  the  ship,  the  owner  and  master  shall 
further each be liable, on the order of the Court trying an offence punishable under sub-section (1), to 
pay  all  the  expenses  of  and  incidental  to  such  officer  being  taken  to  sea,  and  shall  further  be 
punishable with fine which may extend to one hundred rupees for every day until such officer returns 
or until such time as would enable him after leaving the ship to return to the port from which he was 
taken.   

(3)  Any  expenses  ordered  to  be  paid  under  sub-section  (2)  may  be  recovered  in  the  manner 
provided in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898 (5 of 1898) for the recovery of a fine. 

12. **Power to enter dock-yards, etc.**— (1) Any person empowered by this Act to seize and detain 
any ship may, at any reasonable time by day or night, enter any dock-yard, ship-yard or other place 
and make inquiries respecting any ship which he has reason to believe is liable to forfeiture under this 
Act,  and  may  search such ship  with  a  view to  ascertaining  whether  the  provisions  of this  Act have 
been or are being duly observed in respect thereof, and every person in charge of or employed in such 
place  shall  on  request  be  bound  to  give  the  person  so  empowered  all  reasonable  facilities  for  such 
entry and search and for making such inquiries. 

(2) The  provisions  of  sections  101,  102 and  103  of  the  Code of  Criminal  Procedure, 1898 (5  of 
1898), shall apply in the case of all searches made under this section. 

13. **Courts by which and conditions subject to which offences may be tried.**—  No  Court 
inferior to that of a Presidency Magistrate or Magistrate of the first class shall proceed to the trial of 
any  offence  punishable  under  this  Act,  and  no  Court  shall  proceed  to  the  trial  of  any  such  offence 
except on complaint made by, or under authority from, the 3[Central Government]. 

14. **Indemnity.**— No prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall lie against any person for 
anything in good faith done or intended to be done under this Act. 

THE SCHEDULE.—*Rep. by the Indian Naval Armament (Amendment) Act*, 1937 (2 of 1937), s. 6.